Which South Florida bar was named among America’s best?

Broken Shaker co-owner Elad Zvi mixes a cocktail in Miami Beach. The Broken Shaker was named the best hotel bar (Patrick Farrell/ The Miami Herald)

Broken Shaker co-owner Elad Zvi mixes a cocktail in Miami Beach. The Broken Shaker was named the best American hotel bar (Patrick Farrell/ The Miami Herald)

A great drink is more than a sum of its spirits.

There is magic in a mojito, artistry in an old-fashioned. And knowing just how to mix those drinks earned The Broken Shaker in Miami Beach the title of Best American Hotel Bar at the international Spirited Awards in (where else?) New Orleans, the renowned adult Disneyland.

The awards are held annually in the French Quarter (again, where else?), honoring everything from bars and bartenders to spirits writers.

The Broken Shaker, nominated for a James Beard Award, is a lyric little bandbox of a bar (apologies to John Updike), wedged into the Freehand Miami, a hostel where the bar is what makes it famous. It’s standing room only but opens up to a pool courtyard which is filled nightly no matter the weather. In the heat, it’s bathing suits optional.